The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has requested the government to continue with the regionally competitive energy tariffs (RCETs) for the entire value chain and not to impose any non-tariff barrier on raw materials or spare parts for the industry.
In a statement, APTMA said that textiles and apparel exports increased by 23 percent year-on-year to $15.4 billion in 2020-21, up from $12.5 billion in 2019-20. Textile exports grew by 26 percent from $12.7 billion to $16 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal year. Furthermore, clothing and textile exports are expected to earn a significant contribution of $21 billion by the end of the fiscal year to cushion the balance of payments deficit.
It said that textile exports are expected to increase to $27 billion in the next fiscal year as a consequence of the new capacity installed through the Temporary Economic Refinance Facility (TERF) and Long-Term Financing Facility (LTFF) over the last year.
Furthermore, there are speculations that the government is considering Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) through a voucher scheme to curtail the import of raw materials. The impact of any non-tariff barrier on these imports will be disastrous, the statement added.
While changing a winning formula can lead to extremely negative outcomes, Regionally Competitive Energy Tariffs (RCETs) across the value chain, as well as an unrestricted import of raw materials and spare parts for exports, is essential for rapidly growing textile exports, APTMA’s statement read.
